The present invention relates to a method of regulating the braking force of motorcycles.
Applicant's parent application describes one such method by which the tipping of motor vehicles which are threatened by lift-off (particularly motorcycles) in the event of fast deceleration is recognized and counteracted.
In this connection, the front-wheel brake pressure is always reduced in accordance with a predetermined time function when a lift-off process has been recognized on basis of a given, continuously checked wheel-speed pattern. When the corresponding speed pattern no longer indicates lift-off, the front wheel brake pressure is built up again in accordance with a substantially preestablished reloading function, this function being so selected that, on the one hand, the average brake pressure over the period of reloading is as great as possible and, on the other hand, lift-off or a collapse in front wheel speed due to overbraking does not take place immediately.
Under unfavorable conditions, this control mechanism can have the result that a case of lift-off is brought about cyclically again and again by system-caused buildup of pressure. The strong pressure modulations which take place in this connection lead to poor control comfort, particularly in the lower speed range. Furthermore, the large pressure gradients in negative and positive direction cause a see-sawing behavior of the vehicle, as a result of which the center of gravity of the vehicle is shifted phase-wise far forward and upward, which leads to renewed lift-off situations even if the deceleration of the vehicle is still far from the maximum.
In order to avoid these self-excited cases of lift-off it is desirable to keep the vehicle quiet, in particular in the lower speed range, and to bring it very cautiously to the optimal deceleration point. However, this is possible only if cyclic lift-off is in general avoided.